How to follow-up on a sales quote

By putting some thought into how you craft sales follow-up, when and how often you send emails, and how you measure results, you’ll likely see an increase in most (if not all) of your key sales metrics.

Even, simple strategies like using sales follow-up email templates, sending social media follow-up, such as on LinkedIn, and crafting clear CTAs (call to action) will streamline your follow-up workflow significantly. 

Before we move on into details, here are the main steps to consider when following up on a sales quote:

1. Determine where your potential customer sits in the buyer journey.
2. Craft a tailored follow-up email with an enticing subject line.
3. Select a good time to send the email (weekdays between 10 AM and 2 PM tend to be best). 
4. Use tracking software like PandaDoc to monitor recipient actions. 

Questions to ask before following up on a sales quote

Before you start writing a follow-up email, it’s important to ask some key questions. The clearer the information you have about your prospective client and their circumstances, the more likely it is that you’ll strike a positive chord with them.

Salespeople should ask the following questions about clients prior to writing an email.

Read more: 10 ways sales and marketing should be working together

1. How close are they to buying?

It’s important to recognize where a potential client sits in your sales process.

The way you respond to somebody that has already agreed to buy a service and has been sent a quote as a mere formality will be different to the way you follow up on a quote that was included as part of an early-stage proposal.

2. Are they evaluating competitors?

If your previous email was sent in response to an open solicitation, such as an RFQ (request for quotation), then it’s more than likely that a prospective buyer is evaluating competitors.

You may want to be more persuasive if this is the case and point to additional information like case studies.

Always offer the option of a product demo and highlight relevant features, like integrations with your recipient’s CRM (if you’re selling software), onboarding assistance, and subscription discounts. 

3. Is email the best follow-up strategy?

Depending on how much you’ve interacted with a client, you may know their preferred communication channel.

Following up via email will usually be a viable strategy, but you may want to check in with a phone call or even physical mail outreach. Always think about the customer’s specific pain points. 

4. Are you speaking to the decision-maker?

A follow-up email is rendered useless if the recipient isn’t responsible for buying or making the final decision. Ensure that you’re contacting the right person.

For example, perhaps a quote was sent to an intermediary who needs to pass it on to someone higher up in the organization.

If this is the case, you might want to find the email address of the decision-maker and CC them.

Things to consider when writing successful follow-up emails

Writing successful follow-up emails is more of a science than an art.

By following a few simple rules, you will dramatically boost your open and conversion rates. Sales teams should keep the following tips in mind when writing follow-up emails.

1. Pay attention to the subject line

Data shows that some subject lines generate significantly more clicks than others and 35% of recipients (according to HubSpot) open an email based on the subject line alone.

In a nutshell: keep it short, straightforward, and add personalization.

2. Build engagement

Referencing any past interactions and highlighting the problem you’re seeking to remedy again can help build engagement and prompt them to reply.

Contextualizing the email a little in this way is far better than sending something generic and will ensure the recipient doesn’t think it’s a cold email.

3. Avoid automated follow-up

It goes without saying that you should always reference your recipient’s first name and their company name. But there’s also a strong argument for avoiding follow-up automation tools that work on trigger events entirely.

Unless you’re dealing with an unmanageably large volume of emails, it rarely makes sense to forgo the personalization that is only possible with personally-crafted emails.

4. Keep the email copy short

Your recipients don’t have much time. So keep it short! Data shows that longer emails aren’t read as much as shorter ones.

5. Include a phone number

Include a personal phone number, including times that you’ll be available, so that prospective clients can call you if they wish.

6. Make things as easy as possible

There’s always a possibility that a client has not received the quote or has lost it. Offer to send another copy (or include one as an attachment) if this is the case.

When to send follow-up emails

So when’s the best time to send follow-up emails?

The data is far from conclusive on this topic. To adequately answer this question in a way that’s applicable to your market, you should run your own tests.

Evaluating results is a relatively straightforward matter, and most email tools have analytics dashboards with metrics data like open rate, click rate, bounce rate, etc.

Here are some general tips for sales reps for priming emails for optimum success.

1. Weekday afternoons (between 10 AM and 2 PM) are usually best

Send your emails in the early afternoon on a weekday for the best chance of a reply. This applies to both the first email and subsequent ones. 

2. More emails are better than fewer

The dictum “more is less” certainly doesn’t apply in this scenario.

Research shows that while response rates diminish as time progresses, there is still a chance of receiving a reply on the sixth, seventh, eighth email.

Create a set follow-up sequence and don’t give up after the follow-up email. 

3. Work within a five-day window

Data shows that most responses are sent within a 5-day time frame. Dedicate the bulk of your sales follow-up efforts to this period.